Davies said South Africa is expected to deposit the
instrument of ratification during the 32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of
the African Union in February 2019.

The agreement will enter into force once 22 Member States
have deposited their instruments of ratification.

“The AfCFTA, comprises 55 African countries and, once
entered into force, will constitute the largest Free Trade Area globally.

“As a flagship project of the African Union’s Agenda 2063:
The Africa We Want, the AfCFTA aims to build an integrated market in Africa
that will see a market of over one billion people with a combined GDP of
approximately US$3.3 trillion,” Davies said on Tuesday.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa estimates
that the AfCFTA will increase intra-Africa trade from the current 10%-16% to
approximately 52% by the year 2022.

The AfCFTA was launched during an Extra-Ordinary Summit of
African Union Heads of State and Government on 21 March 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda.

South Africa signed the agreement during the 31st Ordinary
Session of the Assembly of the African Union on 1 July 2018 in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
To date, 49 countries have signed the Agreement, while Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda,
Eswatini, Chad, Niger, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Guinea Conakry have deposited
their instruments of ratification.

The Minister said the AfCFTA is anchored on the development
integration approach, which places emphasis on market integration,
infrastructure development, and industrial development in order to boost
intra-Africa trade.

“In support of these objectives, the AfCFTA Agreement covers
both goods and services under Phase I and will include investment, intellectual
property and competition under Phase II of the negotiations,” said Davies.

The agreement will create a single set of rules for trade
and investment among all African countries and provides legal certainty for
traders and investors through the harmonisation of trade regimes.

“It also facilitates intra-Africa investment and increases
the continent’s prospects of stimulating industrialisation, employment, income
generation and poverty reduction,” said the Minister.